I made this shawl for the "Make Me Something Fibre Made"-swap and I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. The chart comes from Ysoldes Skull illusion scarf, but any chart can be used as long as it's not too wide. I had to flip the chart upside down to get the skulls right way up on the shawl.

Close up on the illusion:

Curling is a problem with illusion projects, but since the "wings" of the shawl are knitted in garter stitch I managed to mostly avoid the problem. I removed one stitch from each side of the chart since the sides of the shawl will prevent it from curling.

TutorialIt helps to be familiar with shadow knitting, but ask me if anything is unclear and I'll try to explain or point you to a shadow knitting tutorial.

General notes:- The colour will change every other row, and to make sure the edge is nice and neat you should purl the last stitch on every row and slip the first stitch of every row as if to knit. New yarn colour goes in front of the "old" one at every change.

- The first row of every colour is ALWAYS knitted, and the second row is where the magic happens. This means that if you flip a chart upside down you should still knit the first row and then follow the chart for the second.

- Increases in the sides and around the chart are done on the first row of every colour. I increased less often at the start for my shawl, but every other row should work better. (that's why the top edge is not completely straight)

Materials:I used Marks & Kattens Carolina, 2 skeins black and 2 skeins pink.Large circular US 6 / 4.0 mm needle. It helps if it can be extended as you go. (I used my Denise set)

Gauge is not terribly important as long as the fabric is not too loose. You'll want it firm but still with a nice drape.

General formula:CO the number of stitches for the chart + 4 extra stitches. I've used coloured rows to indicate the colour changes between main colour and contrast colour.

The basic idea behind illusion knitting is to use the two yarn colours to create an optical illusion. You can't use colours that are too close together but dark blue + light blue works just fine.

Each part of the pattern consists of 4 rows, 2 in each colour. Row 1 and 3 is always knitted and just serves to space out the pattern and make the stripes look nice.

The magic happens in row 2 and 4 where alternating knits and purls decides what colour the illusion will get. Knitting on the wrong side produces bumps on the right side that will make that particular colour show.

Knitting colour A + Purling colour B = Colour A shows

Knitting colour B + Purling colour A = Colour B shows

Knitting colour A + knitting colour B = You get a mix between the two and can "shade" your knitting.

From my experience it's easier if the pattern repeat is not huge, since you might not see the entire illusion at once unless you lay your garment flat and look at it from the right angle.

Thanks! Please let me know if anything is unclear if you should try it out.

Illusion knitting is fun, but there are so many scarves and potholders out there. There is so much more potential for it.

I'm going to knit up one of these for me as my next "me"-project, but I haven't decided on the illusion yet. I'm thinking maybe this one with dragonflies... Or some kind of DNA-spiral along the back... Or perhaps I should try out shaded illusion knitting and make a pattern that "mixes" the two colours. There are two really cool ones on ravelry, gollum and harry potter, but I think they would be too wide to make into a shawl. (and I'm not sure I'd want to snuggle around with Gollum on my back )